Department of Biological Sciences

Columbian College of Arts & Sciences

March 2026 Newsletter

GW Biology March Newsletter: As cherry blossom season arrives, we welcome the beauty of spring and the many visitors who bring new energy to campus. It’s an exciting time in Biology, with fresh ideas, ongoing research, and a vibrant community in full bloom. Congratulations to Ashley Bastin on winning both the Overall 3MT Competition and the Audience Choice Award, an outstanding achievement that highlights her exceptional research communication and the strength of our biology program.

Celebrating the Department: Professor Martin and his team have received funding for their grant through theDoD Air Force MURI Program! This is an interdisciplinary and collaborative project of 5 teams, entitled "Cellular Mechanics and Process Principles of 3D Secretion for Ultralight Multifunctional Materials in Butterfly Wing Scales".

Professor Gedan’s grant proposal to the Hughes Center for Agroecology was selected for funding! Professors Hawdon and O’Halloran have received funding from the NIH! Professor Swanson was selected as a finalist for the GWU Athletic Department Professor of the Year Award!

Congratulations to Dr. Loeffler Congratulations to the newly minted Dr. Caitlin Loeffler on successful defense of her dissertation and congrats to the whole Crandall crew! Congratulations to Julia Julia Meyer successfully defended her MS thesis, titled "Cascading generalism shapes a tritrophic plant-caterpillar-parasitoid network." Elise McKean, a current PhD Candidate in Biology and member of the O’Halloran Lab, was the lead author of a paper recently published in Open Biology!

Stand Up for Science National Day of Action Rally on March 7th from 2-3pm. Join us for a High Impact Publishing Luncheon with Shouli Li, Associate Editor at Nature Communications March 19. Cutting Swap and Propagation Party on April 2nd from 2-4pm. GW Biology will host a regional symposium on April 10 from 2:00–5:00 PM.

Elise McKean's paper: Drug repurposing to combat multidrug-resistant hookworm

Elise McKean's Interview for Open Biology: First Person Feature